The Spirit of Arrow Lake Chapter one
by ChristyK
Summary: Dean and Sam go on a camping trip to try and find out who murderd a camping party
1. Chapter 1

I figured I'd post the first chapter of this before Christmas break but won't be able to post the next chapter till I get back in January. Hope everyone has a nice holiday.

**The Spirit of Arrow Lake**

Sam stretched and yawned as he looked over at his brother. They had been driving through out the night and all he wanted right now was a shower and a bed.

"How far?"

Dean glance over at him annoyed.

"You sound just like a kid. 'Are we there yet?' Every five minutes."

"What do you mean every five minutes? We've been driving through out the night. You said we'd be there in eight hours. I only started asking an hour ago."

"Well, what can I say, I miss calculated the distance a little."

"Yeah, by about two hundred miles."

"Well look at that." Dean said as he pointed to a sign on the side of the road and smiled, 'Northridge Sanitarium'. "Looks like we're here." Dean pulled into the parking lot and reached into the glove compartment. He pulled out a bunch of fake ID's and searched for the two he wanted. When he found them, he handed one to Sam.

"You know one of these days we're going down big if we ever get caught with all these fake IDs." Sam said looking at the ID in his hand.

"Ye of little faith Bro. As long as you talk the talk and walk the walk no one will be the wiser."

"Yeah, well I don't feel like sharing a cell with big Bubba and keeping him warm at night."

Dean grinned.

"Maybe you won't be his type."

"Well if I'm not, I hope you are, because you'll be right there with me." Sam grinned back at him.

They both climbed out of the car and went to the trunk where they pulled out two white jackets and attached their IDs to the pocket. They then walked into the building.

_A few days earlier Dean had read in the paper a story about a boy of nineteen who was accused of murdering an entire camping party at Arrow Lake Idaho. The area was a popular tourist attraction with white water rafting and camping enthusiasts. The boy, the only survivor, swore he didn't do it. He told the interrogators that something came into their camp at night and he had passed out and when he woke up everyone was gone. Days later, the camping party's mutilated corpses began showing up, the bodies stripped of flesh. It was determined from the autopsies that the flesh had been torn off the bodies while the victims were still alive. Pieces of the some of the victim's bodies were found in each of the other's stomachs as if they had been forced fed each other's bodies. The boy was thought to be insane and was sent to the Northridge Sanitarium for treatment. Dean decided since it was on their way, why not stop in and check it out._

They walked up to the nurse's station and when the nurse looked up Dean gave her his most charming smile.

"Hi. I'm Dr. Johnson and this is my assistant Dr. Sanders. We're here to see Michael Tate."

The nurse looked at her chart.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I don't have any appointment down for Michael for today."

Dean glanced up at the plaque behind her on the wall which showed which doctors were on duty and picked a name of one that wasn't.

"I had talked to Dr. Williams last night and he told me I could stop by this morning."

"I'm sorry but Dr. Williams isn't on duty today…I ….uh…." She began shuffling through her papers in case she had missed the appointment.

"Ah that's too bad, we drove all night and we have a conference scheduled for later today. I really wish we could just have a few words with Mr. Tate." Dean interrupted her.

"Well I guess it wouldn't hurt….Right now he's in with the others having breakfast."

"We really appreciate your help. We'd hate to have to make the long drive again."

"Just follow me." The nurse smiled at Dean and led them toward the dining room. Sam gave Dean a little punch on his arm when he noticed him admiring the nurse from the back as she walked; Dean gave him an elbow to the ribs in return. She entered the dining room then pointed over to Michael who sat alone at a table. They thanked her and walked over.

"Michael?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." He looked up at them suspiciously.

"May we talk to you for a few minutes? We'd like to hear about your story of what happened to you." Sam said.

"Why? I already told them everything…" He looked down. "They didn't believe me, you won't either so why bother."

"Well for one thing, we're not them." Dean said.

"Why don't you give us a try?" Sam added as they sat down at his table.

Michael looked at him and saw something in his eyes that made him think he could be trusted.

"I was on a camping trip down at Arrow Lake with a bunch of friends a couple of weeks ago…. We were having a good time for the first few days then…" Michael stopped and blinked back tears.

"What happened Michael?" Dean prodded gently.

"Our equipment, cell phones and stuff like that started to disappear one night, then our food and rafts the next night."

"No one saw or heard anything?" Sam asked.

"No, I can't believe someone didn't hear something, but no one did… Then the following night two of the people on the trip disappeared, we woke up and they were just gone. And then…" He turned away and shook his head sadly. "Then I was down by the river having a smoke when I smelled this horrible, horrible rotten smell. I must have passed out or something because when I woke up everyone was gone and….and there was blood all over the place…as if there had been a fight."

"The smell…what did it smell like."

"Like sulfur…rotten eggs….it was a horrible sickening smell."

Dean and Sam glanced at each other.

"What happened next?"

"A search party found me a day later, then they found the bodies a few days after that. They said it looked like they had been eaten."

"And they blamed you?"

"Yeah, I was the only survivor and I didn't have a scratch on me…."He looked at them. "But I swear I didn't do it….Some of them were my friends." He looked away as he tried to hide the tears that ran down his face.

"We believe you Michael, and we're going to check into it for you." Sam put his hand on Tate's shoulder and gave it a gently squeeze.

**Outside of the hospital**

"It could be a Sasquatch." Dean looked at Sam.

"Sounds like it but they're usually found in Washington and Oregon. I never heard of a Bigfoot being sighted in this area."

"Well there are a lot of caves and mine shafts in the area for it to hide out in."

"Yeah but usually they hang out in thick forest areas like Washington."

"That's where Dad killed one. He sent me pictures." Dean said smiling proudly.

"Yeah all Dad's take pictures of their first big game kill." Sam said sarcastically.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Well most Dads take pictures of deer or bear, but not our Dad, he takes pictures of a dead Bigfoot."

Dean glared at Sam.

"Don't go talking about Dad that way."

Sam just shook his head and looked away for a minute.

"If it is a Bigfoot how do we kill it?"

"Crossbow. That's what Dad killed his with."

"How the hell are we going to take a crossbow on a camping trip? No weapons allowed remember, only the guide can take something in case of emergencies."

Dean grinned as he dug around in his trunk and pulled out two umbrellas.

"We're going to beat it to death with umbrellas?" Sam laughed.

"Very funny…No I have mini crossbows hidden inside the umbrellas."

Sam smiled.

"We can't take umbrellas on a camping trip."

"Why not?"

"Dean, who would take umbrellas on a camping trip? We'd look like a couple of dorks. We'd be laughed out of camp."

"Well it's the only way I knew how to disguise them. The spokes are the arrows which have been dipped in silver, known to kill a variety of creatures." Dean said grinning. "And the middle bar snaps into place to form a crossbow." When he saw Sam trying not to laugh he continued. "Hey…what can I say, it's the best I could do."

Sam shook his head and gave a little laugh then looked at Dean.

"I always thought Bigfoots were harmless. I never heard of them actually attacking anyone."

"We thought so to, Dad and me. But he was camping one day by himself and one came into his campsite. It attacked him and he ended up killing it with a crossbow with silver arrows. He said bullets didn't seem to have any effect on it. … You would have known that if you would have hung around."

"Boy, you really like rubbing that in don't you? You could have left too you know."

"Yeah, but I didn't, Dad needed us."

"For what?…To spend the rest of our lives looking for monsters. I wanted to find out what killed mom just as much as you. But we spent almost twenty years looking and we never found it….I wanted a life Dean. As corny as it sounds, I wanted a nine to five job. I wanted to get married, have kids….It's what Mom would have wanted for us."

"Mom would have wanted us to stick together….to find her killer and stop it from happening again."

"Well it did happen again. Jessica died because I wasn't there to protect her. I should never have run off with you. Jess needed me with her, and because I wasn't there… she's dead." Sam turned away from Dean not wanting him to see the tears in his eyes.

"Look Sam, I'm sorry about your girlfriend. I'd give anything to make it not have happened…"Dean swallowed hard when Sam turned around and he saw his pained expression.

"I know….I know you would have." Sam gave his brother a small smile then changed the subject. "Let's go sign up for a camping trip."

**Later at Arrow Lake Idaho**

They parked the car outside an old log cabin with a sign outside saying 'Weekly white water adventures – Sign up inside' they entered the cabin and walked over to a man with long hair sitting behind a desk.

"May I help you?" He asked looking up.

"My brother and I want to sign up for a whitewater trip." Dean said.

The man tossed a calendar to Dean.

"Pick the date, I'll see if I can fit you in."

"Well actually we're only in the area for a few days and would like to go out as soon as possible."

"Well you two boys are in luck. I have a trip going out tomorrow morning and we have two vacant seats if you're interested."

"Hell yeah, we're interested." Dean smiled.

"Well then I'll sign you up. The price is two hundred and fifty a piece for a four day trip."

"What supplies will we need?" Dean asked as he pulled out his wallet and began counting out the money.

"You'll need a sleeping bag, that's about it. We have campsites set up along the way, plus we supply the food. We do suggest you take an extra set of clothes, wrapped in plastic to keep it dry, in case the raft flips or it rains. I'll also need you to sign this release form incase of accident."

Sam picked up the release forms and looked them over.

"We heard there were some people killed up here a few weeks ago."

"Oh that…We had a camper flip out and injure some of the other campers."

"Injure? I heard about eight people were killed."

"Well yeah…some of them died."

It was obvious the man didn't want them to know the full story fearing they'd back out and he'd lose the money.

"I also heard the guy they arrested swears he didn't do it."

"Of course he's going to claim he didn't do it, but he did. There were no other suspects; it was obvious it was him. It was an unfortunate incident but the police took care of it."

"So it should be a safe trip then?"

"No problems I can foresee, just the usual precautions."

"Which are?"

"Well mostly snakebites and a few poisonous spiders, but our guides carry bite kits with them plus we have radios at each campsite in case of emergencies. And of course there is always the possibility of flipping the raft and getting banged up a little."

"Of course." Dean looked over at Sam and could see the hint of fear in his eyes He knew his brother hated spiders ever since he was little and had fallen into a pit full of them. They couldn't find him for hours, and when they did he was covered by them and in a deep state of shock. He gave Sam a reassuring smile.

"Sign us up."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

I appreciate the kind reviews. Thanks and Happy New Year!

**The Spirit of Arrow Lake**

Chapter two

Dean and Sam left the building, got in the car, and decided to look for a motel for the night.

"That's all I need, spiders everywhere." Sam rolled down the window and left the fresh air blow across his face. His heart was pounding as he remembered being trapped in the pit as a kid, hundreds of spiders crawling all over him.

Dean laughed.

"He didn't say spiders everywhere Sam. He said their main concern were bites." He looked over at his brother. "Hey, don't worry about it. If there is a Sasquatch out there spiders will be the least of your problems."

"Spiders and Bigfoot, just the way I wanted to spend my week."

"Hey." Dean punched Sam on the shoulder to get his attention. "It'll be fun…riding the rapids, camping, fresh air…."

"Avoiding spiders and chasing a Bigfoot, who could ask for anything more?" Sam added sarcastically.

"You know you've been a pain in the ass lately. What's your problem?"

"My problem is I should be getting ready for law school… I should be with Jess. Not running all over the country chasing monsters."

Dean felt a little stab of pain at Sam's words.

"I know you should Sam, but Jess is gone, she's dead. But I'm here… and I need you to help me find Dad."

Sam nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Sorry." Was all he could say. He knew Jess's death wasn't Dean's fault, but it hurt him to know that his girlfriend was gone and he'd never see her again.

**Later**

Once they found a motel they went to a nearby diner to eat.

"Okay." Dean leaned forward so the rest of the customers couldn't hear him. "The thing you got to know about a Bigfoot is that you never want to fight one, you won't win. If you fight it, it will kill you right away instead of taking you back to its lair."

"Oh, so it's better to let it drag you to its lair where it can eat you alive instead of having it kill you outright?"

"Damn it Sammy will you pay attention and stop getting all smart ass with me. If they take you back to their lair you might get a chance to escape dummy. If they kill you outright…well…you're dead."

"No kidding." Sam smiled at Dean. "Well actually I think I'd rather be killed outright then taken back and become lunch while I'm still alive."

"And the autopsy report said that pieces of the victim's bodies were in each other's stomach."

"As if it made them eat each other's bodies. What's up with that?" Sam wondered.

"I don't know. I never heard of a Bigfoot force feeding someone."

"Maybe we're not dealing with a Bigfoot. Or maybe it's some kind of hybrid."

"Or maybe it kept them alive and wanted to fatten them up."

"But the bodies were found only days apart. I could see it doing something like that if it was going to keep them for weeks but…" Sam shook his head.

"Who knows, maybe it was going to keep them but then…got hungry."

"Well if we got some kind of rogue Bigfoot running around we need to stop these people from going out there."

"How do we do that? If we tell them they'll think we're nuts."

"I know and if we try to stop them they'll just go without us."

"So I guess we go and try to stop this thing from making lunch meat out of us or them."

"I guess we don't have a choice. Let's just hope your crossbow works."

"Don't worry about my bows, just worry about your aim. You'll probably only get one shot, you miss, you're dead."

**The next morning**

They arrived early at the take off point and leaned back on the car while they waited for the others.

"You know I still don't understand why no one saw or heard anything." Sam said as he looked out over the lake.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that too. It's as if everyone passed out at the same time and I never heard of that happening with a Bigfoot."

"It's the spirit of the lake." A voice behind them said. They turned around and looked into the face of a wrinkled old man.

"What did you say?" Dean asked.

"The spirit of the lake, he's taking his anger out on the people who violate the lake."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The factories, the people who go out on these tours…they pollute and destroy the beauty and peacefulness of the lake. They've awaken the spirit and he's angry."

Dean and Sam glanced at each other.

"Angry enough to kill?" Sam asked.

"They have devoured the lake and he will devour them."

"But these camping trips are regulated by the park service. No trash is to be left behind and nothing disturbed. Why would a spirit guarding a lake take revenge on campers? They're not polluting the area."

"This lake and river belong to the many generations who have fought and died here. It is for them alone and not some weekend tourists. The ancestors have called upon the spirit of the lake to rid it of these people and the spirit has heard."

**A few minutes later**

A car pulled up next to them but the occupants didn't get out. They sat in their car looking out over the lake.

"Are you sure the money is still there?" Rob asked his partner Mick.

"Where else would it be? I buried it at the second camp site last time I was here."

"Well it better be there. I don't want to be spending all this money to go on a damn camping trip and then find out its not."

"Don't worry about it. We get the money, take one of the rafts and we're out of here."

"What if someone tries to stop us?"

"Well then that will be there little mistake now wouldn't it."

A short time later the guides, Alex and Dave, pulled up with a family of three, a man Walt, his wife Gale, and their fourteen year old son Kyle. They all got out of their cars and the guides motioned for Dean, Sam and the two other men to join them. Dean and Sam both looked back at the old man who had been talking to them.

"You be careful out there on the lake and rivers. The spirit will be watching and waiting for you. And he may try to destroy you."

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**The Spirit of Arrow Lake**

Chapter three

The first thing the guides did was have everyone introduce themselves then Alex, one of the guides, spoke.

"Okay, first I need to ask if everyone has already done this before."

They all nodded.

"Good then I don't have to go over all the regulations, you already know them. Since there are only nine of us this time, I'm going to have to split someone up. I'm assuming the family would like to go in one raft, so I need to ask if I have any volunteers to ride with them." When no on said anything he continued. "I'd like at least four men in each boat in case we get into really rough water….No offense." He said to Gale. She smiled back at him.

"None taken but I can handle myself."

"I'm sure you can but this river gets pretty wild at spots and for everyone's safety I have to insist on four men in each raft."

"I'll ride with the family." Dean volunteered.

"Good."

"Okay, since you've all done this before and I don't have to give my preparation speech. I guess we can load up the rafts and be off."

They packed the rafts with their supplies and were off. The lake was smooth and beautiful as they made their way out to the middle of it. The two rafts stayed side by side as they rowed slowly toward the mouth of the river.

"Okay, we're coming up to the first set of rapids. Just keep the rafts in the center of the river; we'll go through one at a time. And I'm sure since you've all done this before I don't need to remind you to keep your life vests and helmets on, and if you get thrown off the raft try to keep your legs in front of you. It's better to break a leg then hit those rocks head on….Okay, everybody ready?...Let's have some fun." Alex said as he headed his raft into the river.

Dean's raft went first followed shortly after by Sam's. The rafts bucked and sank over and over into the water almost tossing the campers into the river but all of them managed to stay on board. The guides each kept yelling instructions on which way to paddle and soon they were through their first set of rapids.

"Boy that was fun!" Kyle, the son of the Martin family, shouted smiling at everyone.

"Sure was!" Sam shouted back to him from his raft. "That was wild!" Sam smiled at his two raft mates but they didn't return his smile only looked away. Sam glanced at Dean and shrugged his shoulders when he noticed Dean had seen the men ignore him. _Why would_ _they come on a rafting trip if not to have fun?_ Sam wondered. Oh well, he was going to enjoy this. He hadn't been rafting for years. Their dad used to take them off and on while they were growing up and he had to admit he had missed it. He looked back at Dean who also seemed to have enjoyed the ride. But then he smelled it. It was faint but the odor was there, a sulfur like smell, faint but noticeable. He looked at Dean and pointed to his nose. Dean nodded he had smelled it to. Both of them began to look around the canyon. Way off in the distance Dean saw something large and brown that appeared to be leaning against a tree watching them. He kept his eyes on it trying to see if it moved. He nodded toward it with is head and Sam looked in the direction. As the rafts continued drifting down the river they eventually lost sight of it. Could that have been the Bigfoot who had attacked the other campers, they both wondered, and would it come into their camp tonight?

**1st Campsite**

The campsite consisted of four tents and an open pit for cooking. The family went to one tent, Dean and Sam to one, and Rob and Mick to another. While the group unpacked the guides began preparing the pit for cooking.

"Do you think it was a Bigfoot?" Sam asked Dean as they unrolled their sleeping bags inside their tent.

"From that distance it looked about the right size and shape but it was too far away to say for sure."

"Think it's tracking us?"

"I don't know, maybe it's just keeping an eye on us. Maybe it won't attack but we need to be ready." Dean unrolled his sleeping bag and pulled out the two umbrellas as Sam bit the side of his mouth trying not to laugh but Dean saw him.

"Hey, you're going to be glad I figured a way to smuggle these in here if one of those things come into camp."

Sam gave a little laugh.

"All your work trying to disguise them and they didn't check for weapons anyway."

"That's right they didn't…. They must be pretty new to the job."

"They did say that since we all did this before we knew the rules. Maybe they just assumed everyone knew no weapons were allowed."

"Well, all I know is that I want these bows together and ready in case we have any visitors tonight." Dean said as he ripped apart the umbrellas and began assembling them into crossbows. When he had them snapped into place he squeezed them till they formed a straight rod which could easily be shaken back into the shape of a bow when needed. He handed one to Sam. "Tie this around your leg." He handed him a thin piece of rope. Once it was secured around the calf of his leg Dean then handed him a few of the arrows which he slid under the rope. "Be careful you don't stab yourself with those, they're sharp." He cautioned as he strapped the other one on himself. "Now let's just hope this thing is a Bigfoot and not something else."

"Yeah, like what that man had said 'the spirit of the lake'. If it isn't a Bigfoot these silver arrows might not have any affect on it."

"Yeah, I know." Dean frowned as he looked over at Sam. He knew if the arrows didn't work on this thing they could be in big trouble. "Hey I noticed your two raft mates aren't the friendliest."

"Yeah, I couldn't get a word out of them only a few grunts. Even the guide couldn't get them to talk."

"I wonder what they're doing out here on a camping trip. If they're so antisocial you would have thought they would have gone by themselves and not with a group."

"Who knows…maybe they're cops investigating the deaths." Sam suggested.

"You could be right. Cops are usually standoffish."

"And they looked like cops."

"That they do, never smiling, hiding behind dark glasses…"

"That's what they must be, cops."

"Must be."

They glanced at each other, each knowing the other didn't really believe they were cops, but if they weren't, then who were they?

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the reviews I really appreciate them. Mystery….thanks for the e mail. I hope your operation goes well and look forward to hearing from you again soon. Take care.

**The Spirit of Arrow Lake**

Chapter four

The night passed by uneventful. The guides made them dinner and then they sat around the campfire talking till midnight. That is all except Rob and Mick who took their meals back to their tent and avoided all contact with the others.

**The next morning**

Dean and Sam were awakened by the smell of breakfast.

"Hey." Dean looked at Sam. "Do you want to switch rafts today?"

"Nah, that's okay."

"You sure? I don't mind, that family just about talks my ear off, you'd be doing me a favor."

"Nah, I'm okay, besides the kids likes you." Actually it's kind of nice just to take in the beauty of the area and not have to worry about carrying on a conversation."

"Okay if you're sure." Dean patted Sam on the back. "Let's go get some of that breakfast."

**Later on the river**

They packed their gear onto the rafts then pushed them out into the river and jumped in. Sam had just reached down to pick up one of the oars when two large spiders crawled out from under the seat and onto his leg. His eyes widened and he sucked in his breath as his heart started pounding. His dad had taught him how to fight back his fear but it didn't seem to work as the spiders began crawling up his leg toward his chest.

"Hey kid, pick up the oar and help out here!" Rob yelled over to Sam as they struggled to get the raft out into the open water.

Sam couldn't take his eyes off of the spiders as he relived the memory of the pit in his mind. Dean had heard Rob yell over to his brother and looked over, but he couldn't tell what was going on, only that something was definitely wrong with Sam.

"Hey Bro you okay?" Dean shouted over as he stood up on the other raft to get a better look.

"Dean…" Sam managed to get out softly as he pushed himself back in his seat and turned his head away from the spiders as they continued climbing toward his face. Dean then saw what was happening.

"Sam it's okay." He yelled over trying to reassure him. He then looked at Rob. "My brother has a phobia of spiders. Just knock them off of him and he'll be fine."

Rob looked over at Mick and gave a little laugh, then looked back at Sam.

"Scared of spiders kid?" He said mockingly as he reached over with his oar and left the spiders crawl onto it. Then instead of tossing them into the water he held the oar over Sam's head and shook them onto him. Sam started to panic and stood up as he tried to knock the spiders off of his hair. He lost his balance and fell into the river. Rob and Mick sat in the raft laughing as Dave reached over the raft and pulled Sam back in.

"Bastards." Dean said under his breath as he glared at the two men who were mocking his brother's fear.

"Sam you okay?" Dean yelled over to him.

"Yeah…yeah…." Sam was mad at himself for showing everyone his fear. He thought he had overcome his paralyzing fear of spiders a long time ago and was embarrassed that it had resurfaced in front of everyone, especially Rob and Mick.

"Sorry….I…. I always had a thing for spiders since I was a little kid…." He tried to explain his actions.

"Aren't you a little old to be squeamish about spiders?" Rob said still laughing.

Sam swallowed hard and looked away. He felt like a total jerk as he picked up his oar and helped them row out into the river.

Dean felt bad for his younger brother and anger toward Rob and Mick for mocking him. He too had thought Sam had conquered his fear but he understood it. Sam had only been around four when the incident had happened and he hadn't blamed him one bit for having the fear. There had to be hundreds of spiders crawling on him when they found him huddled in the dark that day.

The incident was soon forgotten as they neared the rapids which they rode through out the morning and into the afternoon. They had about an hour to go before they'd be stopping for the night when all of a sudden rocks began raining down on them from the cliffs above.

"What the hell!" Alex said looking up.

"What's going on?" Walt shouted as he covered his wife with his body.

"Row! Row! Row!" Dean yelled as he looked up and got a glimpse of the thing throwing the rocks.

They flew into the last set of rapids unprepared, the rafts bouncing off of each other and off of large hidden boulders in the water as the rocks continued to rain down on them from above.

"Push off those boulders!" Dave shouted to his raft mates as they headed into dangerous water and right toward a large hidden rock. But everyone was too busy trying to avoid the thrown rocks to listen to him. Their raft hit the large submerged boulder and overturned throwing the occupants high in the air and then into the rushing water.

"Sam!" Dean screamed seeing his brother disappear into the foaming water. "We got to help them!" He yelled over to Alex.

"We can't, we'll have to pick them up down river!" We got to get out of here!"

Sam tried to go through the rapids feet first but the water was violently throwing him around. He hit a rock hard and screamed in pain as he felt his leg twist under him.

Dean who was busy trying to keep his eyes on Sam didn't see the rock in front of him before it was too late. The raft hit it head on and he too was tossed into the river. Even though he was in danger of drowning himself, he still tried to keep his eyes on his brother. He watched as Sam's body was tossed violently around in the water and then saw his head smack hard into a rock snapping it back. Dean then watched in horror as Sam's head went under the water and stayed there.

"Sam!" Dean screamed trying to reach his brother. He cried out in pain as he too was thrown hard into a rock.

Finally in what seemed like hours, but was actually only a few minutes, they were out of the rapids and in smooth running water.

Alex managed to get the raft over to Dean who crawled in.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, but I got to find Sam." He looked around and finally spotted the other three men that were in Sam's raft crawling out of the water onto the river bank. "Did you see my brother!" He shouted over to them.

They shook their heads.

"Come on Sammy where are you?" Dean looked around desperately. Then he saw his brother's body face down in the water. He jumped off the raft and swam over to him. He quickly pulled his face out of the water and could see blood running down the side of it.

"Sammy!" Dean gently slapped his brother's face. "Come on Sammy, wake up!"

When Sam didn't move he pulled him over to the river bank and up onto the ground. He could tell he wasn't breathing so he tilted Sam's head back and gave him two quick breaths.

"Come on Sammy, don't do this to me Bro." He said between breaths. When Sam didn't respond he gave him two more breaths. Sam finally began to cough up water. "Thank God." Dean said as he patted Sam on the shoulder.

"Ohhhhh." Sam moaned then coughed up more water. His eyes suddenly flew open and he tried to get up but was held down by Dean.

"Take it easy buddy. Just catch your breath."

"Dean….did you see it?" Sam lay on his back gasping in air.

"Yeah, it looked like a Bigfoot to me, but …who knows." Dean slowly stood up and looked back up the river. Sam once more started to get up and Dean reached down to help him but as he started to pull him up he winced in pain and grabbed his ribs as he dropped Sam's hand.

"You okay." Sam looked at Dean worried as he slowly managed to get to his feet. He was a little wobbly and he put his hand up to his head and felt the bump above his left eyebrow. He wiped the blood that ran down his face with the back of his hand smearing it across his forehead.

"Yeah, just got knocked around a little by those rocks." Dean winced as he rubbed his bruised ribs. "How 'bout you?"

"Yeah, just a little headache." But as Sam started to walk his leg gave out and he just managed to stop himself from falling to the ground.

"Let me check that out." Dean helped Sam over to a rock so he could sit down then he gently ran his hands over his brother's leg. "It doesn't appear to be broken."

"I think I just twisted it a little."

Soon the rest of the group joined them.

Walt stood with his arm around his wife and son.

"What the hell was that all about?" He asked the guides.

"I don't know, but I've never seen anything like it before." Alex said then looked at the others. "Everyone okay?"

"We got to head back home." Walt said.

"We can't, it would take us a week or more to hike out of this canyon. If we follow the river on the rafts we can make it in two days." Dave said.

"Well who the hell was throwing rocks at us!" Rob asked.

Dean and Sam glanced at each other wondering if they should say anything or keep quiet. They decided the others had a right to know.

"We think it might be a Bigfoot." Dean finally said.

"A Bigfoot! What the hell are you talking about, that's just a legend." Rob said.

"No it's not." Sam spoke up. "Bigfoot is real, and we might be dealing with one here."

"Well what ever it is we need to call for help." Walt looked at Alex. "I need to get my family out of here."

"We have a two way radio at each of the campsites. We can call for a helicopter once we get there."

"How far is the next site?" Sam asked.

"About an hour."

"Well let's see if we can find the other raft and get out of here."

It took them a few minutes but they finally located the other raft down river. They jumped into the two rafts and continued down the river.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Once more thanks for the reviews and comments. I really appreciate them.

**The Spirit of Arrow Lake**

Chapter five

**Campsite #2**

They reached the second campsite in a little under an hour. Alex hurried over to the guide's tent and immediately came out.

"The radio is gone!" He looked at his partner. "It was here last time we were here."

"Well what are we going to do now? We can't stay here with that thing out there." Walt asked.

"There's nothing we can do, we can't ride the river at night, it's too dangerous. We put a lot of distance between us and what ever that thing was so hopefully we lost it…." He looked at the group and continued. "We're supposed to radio in every night, so when they don't hear from us they'll send in a search party. We just have to hold on till it gets here." He said trying to calm everyone down.

"Well how can we be sure we lost it? What if it comes into camp tonight?"

"We can't be sure, but if that thing comes into camp we'll be ready for it." Alex lifted his jacket revealing a holster with a gun in it. "Dave and I each have a gun for emergencies. So if this thing comes into camp we'll take it down."

That seemed to calm Walt down a little but Sam and Dean glanced at each other, each knowing that a bullet wouldn't kill it. They could only pray that their crossbows with the silver tipped arrows would.

**After dinner**

Dean sat down in front of their tent on a log. His ribs were starting to really hurt him and he wondered if he did more then just bruise them. Sam came limping over, Dean had made him a crutch out of a tree branch and he used it to keep some of the pressure off his sore leg.

"We're sure a sorry looking bunch." Dean said as Sam sat down beside him.

"Yeah." He gave a little laugh. "You know Dean I've been thinking…. I'm wondering if there are more then one of those things out there. How could one creature throw that many rocks at one time?"

"I was thinking the same thing. Either there is more then one, or Bigfoot, or whatever it is, has some kind of power that we don't know about."

"What are we going to do if the arrows don't kill it?"

"I don't even want to think about that. We can't outrun it especially with all these people here."

"I wonder if it can swim."

"I never heard of one swimming but if we're dealing with something other then a Bigfoot who knows…..maybe it can."

Just then Sam noticed that one of the rafts looked like it was pulling away from the tree it had been tied to.

"I'll be right back. That raft is working its way loose."

Dean got up to help Sam but Sam noticed the pain on his face when he tried to stand and gently pushed him back down.

"Rest those ribs, I'll be right back."

Sam limped down to the river bank and secured the raft. He then stood up and looked out over the river for a few minutes. It was a beautiful night and a full moon lit up the area. He shut his eyes for a few seconds and just breathed in the fresh air.

**Rob and Mick's tent **

"I say we get our money and take one of those rafts and get the hell out of here." Rob whispered.

"Those rapids are pretty wild. We'll need someone to help us get through them."

"We'll take that kid Sam with us. And once we're through the rapids we'll get rid of him. But I want to get out of here tonight before that thing finds us. I think if we stay out on the water we'll be safe."

"I say we do it now." They both rolled up their pants legs to reveal leg holsters with guns in them. They took the guns and put them in their jacket pockets.

"What if the kid's brother tries to stop us from taking him?"

"We kill him." Mick said simply patting his pocket.

**Dean and Sam's tent**

AsSam painfully made his way back to Dean he passed Rob and Mick heading down to the river.

"I wouldn't stray too far from camp." He cautioned them.

"Don't worry about us kid." Mick said as they continued walking.

"Yeah, just worry about those nasty spiders out here." Rob added as they walked off laughing.

"Not the friendliest people in the world are they?" Dean said when Sam walked over to him; he had seen the exchange take place.

"No." Sam smiled as he sat down next to Dean. "You know it's really beautiful out here…too bad we have to worry about that thing coming into camp."

"Yeah, it is a nice night. Let's hope it stays that way." Dean looked up at the starlit sky.

Just then the peace was broken when Rob and Mick came storming over to them obviously upset.

"Where's the money?" Rob barked at Sam.

"What?" Sam looked up at him confused.

"I said, where's the money?" Rob reached down and grabbed Sam by his collar and pulled him up. He yelped in pain as he was forced to put his full weight on his injured leg.

Dean rose with him.

"Hey, hold on there a minute." Dean looked at Rob, then at Mick who had taken his gun out. "What's going on?" He asked as he held his hands out at his side.

"Your brother here took our money."

"What! What money?" Sam looked back and forth between the two of them.

"We saw you coming up from the river bank."

"Yeah, I was checking on the raft, it was working itself loose."

Rob grabbed Sam and threw him hard against a rock and started looking through his pockets, when he objected Rob slammed his fist into his side.

"Umphf" Sam grunted as the air left his lungs.

"Leave him alone!" Dean tried to go to his brother's aide but stopped when Mick put a gun to his side. "He didn't take your money, we didn't even know about any damn money!"

"He doesn't have it on him." Rob looked over at Mick then back at Sam who he backhanded across the mouth splitting his lip. "Where is it?"

Dean glared at Rob as he clenched and unclenched his fists over and over.

"I don't know about any money." Sam turned his head to the side and spit the blood out of his mouth.

"If you hid money down by the river bank it probably washed away." Dean said to the man who had hurt his brother. "They've had floods down this way last week and the river banks probably overflowed and took the money with it."

Seeing the commotion Alex and Dave ran over.

"What the hell is going on here?" Alex asked, then stepped back and put up his hands when he saw the gun in Mick's hand.

"Where did you get that gun?" Dave also raised his hands.

They didn't answer him as Rob pulled his own gun out and held it on the guides.

"Take your weapons out and drop them, then kick them over to me."

"Hey, we need those guns if that thing comes into camp."

"Do as I say or you're dead." Rob pointed the gun at Dave's head.

They had no choice but to do as he asked. Mick walked over and picked the guns up.

"We're taking our friend here with us." Rob said grabbing Sam by his shirt and pushing him in front of him.

"He's got a bum leg, take me." Dean volunteered.

"No, he'll do just fine. We've gotten to be best buddies these last two days haven't we Sammy." He put his arm around Sam's shoulder and grinned over at Dean, he then shoved Sam toward the raft. Sam's bad leg gave out and he went down hard. Dean immediately started to go to him even though Mick pointed his gun at his head.

"Dean …no!" Sam saw the gun and knew these guys wouldn't hesitate to kill his brother.

"You're not taking my brother!" Dean turned around protectively in front of Sam.

"Shoot that one if this one tries anything." Mick said to Rob who pointed his gun at Sam's head. Dean immediately stepped back, he had no choice. Rob pulled Sam up off the ground then grabbed him by his hair and forced his head back. He put the gun barrel under his chin.

"Your brother dies if anyone comes looking for us." He said to Dean then shoved Sam toward the raft.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for the kind reviews; I really enjoy reading them.

**The Spirit of Arrow Lake**

Chapter six

Sam landed hard in the raft and cried out in pain as his bad leg twisted beneath him. Dean, hearing him, instinctively stepped forward to help but Rob jumped in the raft and once more put the gun at Sam's head.

"Come closer and I'll put a bullet in his brain and then I'll just take someone else with us."

Dean froze in his spot; he knew the man meant it. Rob then roughly pulled Sam's arms behind his back and tied them. Mick jumped in the raft then reached over and slashed the other raft, all Dean could do was watch helplessly as the two men rowed out into the river and began to float with the current. He winced when he saw Rob deliberately kick Sam just to irritate him, then he looked back at Dean and smiled.

"We'll take good care of your brother."

"Anything happens to him, I'll track you down and I swear I'll kill both of you." Dean screamed angrily over to them.

They just waved him off and headed down the river. Dean knew these men would more then likely kill his brother as soon as they thought they didn't need him anymore. He ran along the river bank wincing in pain as he held his arm over his injured rib cage and watched the raft round a bend in the river and disappear. His eyes filled up at the thought that he may never see Sam again. He wiped angrily at his tears and headed back to camp.

"What the hell was that all about?" Alex asked when Dean walked over.

"They were looking for some money they apparently hid along the riverbank."

"Why did they take your brother?" Dave asked.

"I don't know, maybe for insurance. If they're caught they'd have him to bargain with."

"Or maybe they need him to help them get through the rapids. It would be impossible with only two men and still near to impossible with three."

"If they expect help from Sam they're going to be sorely disappointed. I know my brother, he's not about to cooperate with them." Dean spoke with a sense of pride as he blinked back tears. He knew his brother wouldn't help the men since it was only his life in danger and no one else's. But it also meant if he didn't cooperate there would be no reason to keep him alive. His heart broke as he looked back at the now empty river.

"You know they'll kill him when they don't need him anymore." Alex said softly.

Dean nodded as Alex voiced what he himself was thinking. He turned back to Alex.

"That's why we got to get this raft fixed and on the river."

"We can patch the raft and pump it back up but we can't go out on the river at night, its way too dangerous. The next set of rapids is only a short way down the river."

"My brother's out there! And I'm not losing him!" Dean snapped angrily.

"Hey buddy we're on your side but the rivers too dangerous and we still got that thing out there to worry about. Plus I have people here I have to protect."

Dean started to walk back to the river bank.

"We're you going?"

"I'm going to follow the river till I find them. They won't be able to go far in the dark."

"How do you expect to stop them? They have guns, you don't have anything."

"Oh, I'll stop them and I'll kill them with my bare hands if they hurt my brother."

"How are you going to do that? Look at you; I can see you're hurting." Alex had noticed Dean was favoring his left side.

"I'm fine." He said his eyes never leaving the river.

Walt walked over with his wife and son.

"Look we need to stick together. I'm sorry about your brother, I really am, but … he might already be dead. They could have dumped him in the river and with his hands tied… But if that thing comes here tonight we need you here with us. I got a wife and son to protect."

"I know….but I need to find my brother. Besides if that thing decides to attack our camp, I don't think it matters how many people are here…"  
Dean looked out over the water. He was torn about what to do. His heart was telling him he had to find Sam, but these people needed him too and he couldn't just desert them. He knew Sam would want him to stay here and try to help the others. He didn't try to hide the tears that ran down his face.

**Further down the river**

Sam had managed to pull himself up to one of the seats in the raft. His leg felt like it was on fire as he tried to get as comfortable as possible. In his mind he went over his options. He knew these men would kill him when they no longer needed him so he had to somehow get away from them. He thought of just flipping himself over the side, but with his hands tied he'd drown for sure. But maybe drowning was better then getting shot, either way he'd be dead. He worried about Dean. He knew his older brother was protective of him and would be driving himself crazy worrying about him. He hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid like trying to follow him. These men had guns and he knew they wouldn't hesitate to use them. Off in the distance he could hear the unmistakable roar of the rapids fast approaching. He swallowed the fear in his throat when he thought of trying to get through them with his hands tied, but just then Rob reached over and untied him.

"You're going to help us get through these rapids. You try anything funny and you're dead." Rob said.

"Maybe if you cooperate we'll let you live." Mick added.

It was then that Sam smelled the creature. He knew it was nearby. He glanced around in the darkness and instinctively felt toward the crossbow hidden under his pant's leg. Luckily it was still there. He prayed Dean was right and that silver would indeed kill the thing if it attacked.

The rapids approached and as they reached the start of them Sam threw himself off the raft and into the river.

"Son of a bitch!" Rob screamed as he watched Sam go over. He drew his gun and had only a second to fire one shot before the raft started rocking violently as it entered the rapids. But one shot was all he needed. He watched as Sam threw his head back in pain as the bullet tore into his back.

**Back at the campsite**

They all had heard the single gun shot that echo through the canyon and they turned as one and looked at Dean who couldn't hide the anguish on his face. He might have just heard his brother being killed.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**The Spirit of Arrow Lake**

Chapter seven

"I'm sorry." Alex said as he put his hand on Dean's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Dean stood staring out at the river, not wanting to believe he might have just heard his brother's life ended.

"Maybe it wasn't him, maybe it was hunters." He said trying to convince himself as he walked away from the others needing to be alone.

**On the river **

The pain was unbearable and Sam had to use every bit of strength he had to get to the river bank. He slowly crawled out of the water shivering both from the cold and the pain. He looked back at the river just in time to see Rob and Mick both being thrown from the raft and trying to make their way to the river bank. He tried to stand up but the pain in his back and leg caused him to collapse back onto the ground. He knew if they found him he was dead. He could hear someone coming toward him in the darkness.

"Dean?" He said hoping his brother somehow had found him.

But then he smelled the horrible stench again and knew he was in big trouble. He tried to push himself back into the river to hide behind some rocks but it was too late. He screamed in agony as a large hairy hand reached down and grabbed him by the shirt yanking him out of the water.

**Back at the campsite**

Dean, Alex, and Dave all worked on patching the raft and inflating it. Luckily neither Rob nor Mick thought of the repair kit that all the rafts carried with them. Dean knew it could take hours before the raft would be water ready. He worked side by side with the men, his face etched with sorrow. His brother was probably dead. He didn't want to believe it but he had heard the shot. He felt cold and numb inside. If Sam was dead it meant he was now all alone. His mom was dead, his dad missing, and now Sammy. He never should have taken him out of college. He should have left him live the life he wanted instead of dragging him back into the family business. And now….he was dead because of it….because of him. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to see through the tears. _I'm so sorry Sammy, I'm so sorry._

Gale, seeing the pain Dean was in, walked over and put her arm around him and pulled him away from the others, she then drew him into a gentle hug.

"I'm so sorry about your brother. You and him were close weren't you?"

"Yeah, real close."

"He seemed like such a nice boy. He really loved you, you know. You could see it in his eyes."

Dean could only nod; there was no way he could talk.

"I just want you to know that I know how you feel. I lost my brother a few months back. We were best friends too, just like you and Sam. You think you're never going to get through it but you do. You just remember the good times and pray that someday you'll see them again."

Dean gave her a small sad smile.

"Thanks." He said his voice cracking.

**The River**

The creature dragged Sam along easily with one arm. He remembered Dean telling him not to fight the thing or it would kill you. Right now with all the pain he was in he wished it would. But even if he wanted to fight it he couldn't, he was way too weak. The thing finally dropped him and he could see why. Rob and Mick were crawling out of the river and it had spotted them. Even after what they had just done to him he still tried to cry out a warning but he was too weak and only a whisper came out. He watched as they looked around probably smelling the thing then started to head back into the water but they weren't fast enough. The thing snatched Rob out of the water just as Mick spun around and began firing at it with no results. The creature only grew angrier and put its head back and screamed in rage. Sam tried to reach for his crossbow but even that exhausted him. Finally he welcomed the darkness that enveloped him wondering if this is what it felt like to die.

**Two hours later at the campsite**

They had heard the additional gunshots but with all the echoes in the canyon they had no idea where they had come from. Had Sam somehow gotten away from the two men Dean wondered, and if he had, was he lying out there somewhere hurt.

They finally repaired the boat then they stood around trying to decide what to do. If they stayed there they had to worry about that thing coming into their campsite, but if they tried to ride the river at night there would be no way to see any hidden dangers in the water. They decided to take a vote. The river won. They loaded their gear into the raft and began rowing out into the river.

"This is going to be bad. I need you all to hang on with everything you got. These rapids are bad enough during the day but at night they're wicked." Alex warned them.

The rapids were indeed wild and dangerous. But somehow they made it through them. Exhausted, they pulled the raft over to rest for a while. While the others tried to set up a temporary campsite Dean stood by the river thinking of Sam, wondering if his brother was alive or dead. His eyes searched the river for any sign of a body. At least he could bring his brother home. He was just about to walk back to camp when he saw the blood. He knelt down and touched it.

"Sam." He said as his eyes once more filled up. He looked around the area. If Sam's body had washed up here where was it? Or maybe it wasn't even Sam's blood, it could be an animal. But then he smelled it. He turned around slowly realizing the thing was standing right next to him. Why hadn't he smelled it sooner? It was like this creature could just appear when it wanted to. As he turned he started to reach down for the crossbow. He knew he didn't have a chance of reaching it before that thing would be on him. He slowly raised his eyes and looked into the snarling face of the beast. The thing took its massive arm and slammed Dean back against a tree. His head snapped back hitting the tree hard and he fell to the ground. He shut his eyes as the creature started toward him. His head was spinning and he couldn't think straight all he knew was that he was going to die. _I'll least I'll be with you Bro _He thought as the thing started to reach down for him. As it grabbed his leg one of his silver arrows pierced the material and stuck the creature in its hand. The thing reared back screaming staring at Dean its face a mass of anger and pain. He watched as it turned and headed toward the campsite and the others before he passed out.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Thanks for the reviews, I love reading them. I hope you're not too disappointed with the rest of the story

**The Spirit of Arrow Lake**

Chapter eight

**Later**

Dean finally woke up. He moaned as he reached back and touched the back of his head. When he pulled his hand away it was covered in blood. He shook his head slightly trying to clear it but quickly realized that was a mistake when a blinding pain shot through his head.

"Ohhhhh man." He moaned as he shut his eyes for a few minutes trying to remember what had happened. He remembered being out on the river and riding the rapids but…then he felt a dull ache in his heart as it came back to him….Sam. Sam was dead…or probably dead. He thought as he remembered hearing a single gun shot, then hearing more later on. He suddenly sat upright as he remembered the others, and also the creature. He looked around but couldn't see anyone. Slowly and painfully he stood up and waited a few seconds for the dizziness to subside, then walked into the campsite which had been completely destroyed. He saw what appeared to be a body lying near a tree and walked over to it. He turned his face away briefly as he felt bile rising in his throat; he then looked back at the mutilated body of Dave who had been ripped to pieces. He shook his head sadly, feeling bad that he hadn't been able to stop the thing from killing him but it had all happened so fast. Dean looked around for more bodies but saw none, everyone was gone. He hoped at least some of them had gotten away but knew that was unlikely. He swallowed the feeling of panic that came over him briefly at the thought that he was the only one left alive. He knew he had to find them; maybe somehow some of them were still alive. He could see large tracks and signs that something had been dragged out of camp. Following the tracks he kept his eyes open for any sign of the creature. As he walked a horrible lonely feeling came over him. His eyes filled up as he thought of his brother. He had protected his little brother all his life, and now, when Sam needed him most, he had failed him. If he ever found his dad how could he tell him that Sammy was gone? His heart broke but he knew he had a job to do. He had to track this monster down and try to help any survivors if he could. He had followed the trail for about two hours when he suddenly smelled the stench of the creature. He cautiously continued till he found himself in front of a hole in the canyon's wall which led into a deep cave from which he could see a flickering light coming from deep within.

Dean snuck into the cave and hid behind a large rock. The creature had a fire going which amazed Dean that it even knew how to start one. The light from the fire showed the horror inside the cave. He could see that the family and Alex were huddled inside a make shift cage made out of logs and branches. Bones were scattered throughout the cave and what was left of Mick lay in a pool of blood. It appeared that all the flesh had been stripped from his body which was an oozing mass of bloody tissue. Only his face was slightly recognizable as human.

The massive creature stood in front of Rob who had been tied to a wall. He screamed in pain and horror as the thing ripped a piece of flesh from his arm and devoured it. The thing then turned to something by Rob's side which was blocked from Dean's view by its large body. Even in the horror of it all Dean smiled to himself. _You bastards got what was coming to you for killing my brother_ Dean moved a little to the side to see what the thing was doing. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in surprise and horror. Sam hung from his wrists which were stretched high above his head, his feet several inches off the ground. His head hung on his chest, his body covered in blood. Dean sucked in his breath when he saw Sam's chest moving as he gasped in breaths of air. He was still alive! Tears of joy ran down his face, but then he realized what the creature was doing. It was ripping tiny strips of flesh from Sam's chest and stomach. _My God it's eating him alive!_ He watched as Sam tried weakly to kick out at the thing but he only angered it. It reached out and slapped Sam hard on the chest, its nails slashing into him and spinning his body around so he faced the wall. It was then Dean saw the bullet hole on his left shoulder. _So the bastards did shoot you!_ He looked over at Mick's body and Rob and got a small amount of satisfaction knowing they had been paid back for what they did to his brother. He turned his attention back to Sam. He had to find someway to help him and the others. He knew he'd probably only get one shot at the thing and knew he had to hit it in the heart or the silver wouldn't kill it… If he missed they'd all die. Somehow he had to divert its attention. He snuck to the front of the cave and started yelling.

"Hey you ugly looking bastard you forgot about me!" He yelled as he hid behind some rocks with a fist full of stones in his hand. The thing came roaring out of the cave full of rage looking for the source of the voice. Dean tossed the stones as far as he could and the thing went off in the direction of the noise. He ran back into the cave and opened the cage freeing Alex and the family. Walt, Gale and their soon Kyle all ran for the cave entrance. Alex stood next to Dean.

"Go! Get out of here before it comes back!" Dean whispered hoping the creature wouldn't hear him.

"What about you?"

"I got to get Sam."

"I'll stay and help you."

"No, you got to get them out of here. Try to get them back to the raft."

Alex hesitated a few seconds hating to leave Dean alone to face the creature, but knew his responsibilities were with the family. He handed Dean a small pocket knife.

"Good luck." He said before he hurried after the others.

Dean ran over to Sam.

"Oh God Sammy." He gently turned Sam so he faced forward. His eyes filled with tears as he took in Sam's slashed bloody body. Thin strips of flesh had been removed from his chest down to his stomach where the creature had begun to peel the skin from his body; his back was also covered in blood from the bullet wound. He climbed up on a rock next to him and cut through the bindings. He then jumped down and grabbed Sam and lowered him to the cave's floor. He sat there cradling his brother's body as he pushed his hair out of his eyes. "Hey Sammy, come on Bro look at me." He said softly. He breathed a sigh of relief when Sam's eyelids fluttered and he slowly opened them.

"Hey." He gave Dean a small smile.

"Damn it Sammy I thought they had killed you." He hugged Sam close then released him when Sam gave a little whimper of pain. "Sorry."

"It's okay…I …I couldn't get a shot…at it."

Dean reached down and removed his bow.

"I'll be ready for it….I just hope this works." He put Sam's arm over his shoulder and winced with sympathy when Sam cried out in pain. "I'm sorry Bro but I got to get you out of here." He slowly stood up pulling Sam with him.

"What about them?" Sam asked about Rob and Mick.

"To hell with them…"

"We can't just leave them."

"Sam, they tried to kill you!"

"Dean…."

"Damn it Sammy!"

He lowered Sam, took his knife, and cut Rob down.

"I'll have to come back for him. I got to get you out of here." He once more placed Sam's arm around his shoulder, but as he turned to leave, he came face to face with the creature.

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

This is the final chapter. I hope it doesn't disappoint anyone. Thanks again for the reviews. I really do appreciate that you took the time to leave a little message and I love reading your comments.

**The Spirit of Arrow Lake**

Chapter nine

Dean quickly tried to raise the bow but the thing lashed out stripping it from his hand. Then it knocked them both to the ground. Sam screamed in agony as his shoulder hit the ground hard, blood splattering over the ground from his wound. The creature smelling the blood started to head toward him but Dean ran over and picked up the crossbow and stepped protectively in front of his brother. He had only a second to raise the bow and fire. Unfortunately the arrow hit the thing in its shoulder. It threw back its head, roared in rage and pain, and then charged Dean. He tried to roll out of its way but it grabbed his leg, picked him up by it like a toy, and then slung him across the cave. He grunted in pain as he slammed hard into the wall and slid down the side of it. He lay on the ground gasping for air as he tried to catch the breath that was knocked out of him and watched the thing once more advance on his brother who had backed himself against a large rock. Sam weakly put up his hand to ward off the creature but it slapped it aside. Dean watched as his brother shut his eyes and turned his head to the side waiting for the thing to attack, too weak to try and fight it.

"Get away from him you ugly son of a bitch!" Dean screamed trying to draw its attention away from Sam, it worked. The thing turned toward him as Dean fumbled for another arrow but he wasn't fast enough. It was on him in no time. It slashed out at his chest with its claws which shredded his shirt and put four deep scratch marks on his chest. He cried out in pain as the blood ran down the front of him. He scooted backward as fast as he could but the creature kept advancing toward him. It reached down and touched the drops of blood on the ground then licked its fingers. Liking what it tasted it started to reach for him.

Over on the other side of the cave Sam fought to stay conscious. He reached down and rolled up his pant's leg, then removed the crossbow and loaded it with an arrow. He tried to stand but his leg gave out and he crumbled back to the ground. There was nothing he could do but shoot the arrow to gets its attention off of Dean. The arrow hit it in its lower back. It screamed in rage and spun around. Hate and fear in its eyes.

"Come on…..come on you bastard." Sam yelled coaxing it over to him. The thing growled showing its fangs and headed to Sam who kept taunting it. "Come on you son of a bitch!"

"Sam! No!" Dean screamed as he watched the thing close in on his brother.

It reached down and yanked Sam off the ground and held him in front of it. It growled and opened its mouth, its fangs dripping foam and slime and started to lower its mouth to Sam's neck.

"Noooooo!" Dean screamed seeing what was happening. He knew he was about to watch his brother's throat being ripped out in front of him. He managed to get up and painfully made his way over to the thing. Not knowing what else to do he leaped onto its back. He held on with one hand while he pounded on the creature with the other trying to get it to release Sam. He could hear his brother gasping for breath as the thing began to squeeze the life out of him.

"Drop him you son of a bitch!" Dean screamed as he kept pounding on the creature which didn't seem to bother it at all. He could hear Sam wheezing as the last of the air was squeezed from his chest. Then suddenly the creature began to convulse violently and tossed Sam's body across the cave. He hit hard against a large rock and lay crumbled at the bottom of it. Next it shook Dean off of its back and he quickly crawled over to his brother.

"Sammy." He touched his brother's face and left out the breath he didn't know he was holding when Sam opened his eyes slightly and gave a little moan. Dean could sense the thing moving toward them and quickly crawled in front of Sam covering his body with his own and looked up at it. He could now see what had caused such a reaction in it. A silver arrow protruded from its chest where Sam had pushed it in when the creature was squeezing him. Dean prayed he had hit its heart. The creature gave them one last hateful look then stumbled out of the cave, hopefully to die Dean thought. He turned around and looked at Sam grinning.

"You did it Sam! You got the son of a bitch!" Dean's joy was short lived when his brother didn't answer him. "Sam?" Dean pulled his brother up into his arms and held him as Sam's head fell forward. "Sammy?" Dean gently pulled his brother away to look at him. Sam was unconscious and started to fall backward but was quickly grabbed by Dean. "Come on Sammy wake up!" When he saw blood start to bubble out from between Sam's lips he gently laid him back on the ground. "Sammy!" Dean cried out as he put his hands on either side of Sam's face. "Come on Sammy don't do this to me Bro!" He put his two fingers against the side of Sam's neck and felt a faint heartbeat. Dean closed his eyes, thankful that his brother was at least still alive. But how badly hurt was he? The creature must have busted something inside of him or punctured a lung when he squeezed him he couldn't be sure. He gently wiped the blood out of Sam's mouth in order to help him to breathe better. Tears filled Dean's eyes as he looked at his brother. Sam had drawn the creature's attention away from him and might now die because of it. "Damn it Sammy if you die on me I'll kill you." As soon as the words were out of his mouth Sam started going into convulsions from lack of oxygen as more blood started to fill his mouth. Dean tilted Sam's head back and once more wiped out the blood. He gave him two quick breaths, then two more. "Sammy! Don't you leave me!" He screamed as tears streamed down his face. "Please Sammy don't you die on me!" He was just about to give him more breaths when he suddenly was pulled away. He spun around expecting to come face to face with the creature but instead it was the search party Alex had said would come looking for them when they didn't report in. Alex and the family had been on their way back to camp when the search party had found them. He then had led them back to the cave.

"Let them work on him." Alex said gently as he pulled Dean away. He stood there stunned covered in his brother's blood and his own. He reached up and wiped Sam's blood from his mouth.

"He also was shot in the back." Dean said as he watched the medic that had come with the search party insert a tube down Sam's throat and begin to suction the blood out and at the same time pump oxygen in with another tube. A few minutes after receiving the oxygen Sam began to moan. He started to panic when he felt the tubes down his throat and began to fight the medic. Dean knelt down beside him and grabbed his hands holding them down.

"Sammy don't fight them. They're trying to help you."

Sam looked up at Dean and he could see the fear in Sam's eyes lessened when they began to focus on him.

"You're going to be okay buddy. You just got to let them do their work."

Sam weakly reached up and pointed to Dean's bloody chest wanting the medic to help him as well.

"We'll get to him as soon as we have you taken care of." The medic said to Sam as he continued working on him.

Sam shook his head and pointed at his brother, he wanted Dean checked out.

"I'm fine Sammy, nothing but a couple of scratches." Dean said trying to reassure his brother. He knew Sam was concerned because of all the blood on him, but he also knew most of it was Sam's own blood. "How is he?" He asked the medic.

"We really can't tell till we get him to the hospital. But it seems likely he has a broken rib which punctured his lung, that's why the blood is such a bright red. He also has some nasty wounds on his chest and stomach where it looks like his skin was peeled off in spots. We can clean that up and give him some antibiotics which should take care of it." The medic then gently rolled Sam onto his side and examined the bullet wound. "It seems like the bullet is still in there but it doesn't appear to be in too deep. We'll take care of that once we get him to the hospital."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"As long as we keep suctioning the blood out of his lung he should be able to breathe but we need to keep him still and get him to a hospital as soon as possible."

"How are we going to do that?"

"We landed a helicopter back at the campsite and we got a couple of stretchers outside." The medic looked at Dean. "I need to take a look at you too, and him." He nodded toward Rob who was being helped by other members of the search team. "But first I need to stabilize him." He continued working on Sam until he was satisfied that the bleeding was under control. They then gently put him on a stretcher and taped the tubes in place. "Okay now you lay still and try to move as little as possible." He said to Sam as he turned his attention to Dean.

He pulled back Dean's shirt and hissed when he saw the deep scratch marks and large bruise over his ribs.

"Boy someone really did a number on you too." He said as he began to clean and dress Dean's wounds.

Alex stepped forward.

"It was that Bigfoot or what ever it was. What the hell happened to it?" He asked Dean.

Dean didn't want to go into the whole crossbow and silver arrow thing or there would have been questions, so he made it simple.

"My brother managed to stab it and it staggered out of the cave. I'm not sure if it's dead though."

"Well if it isn't we need to get out of here before it decides to come back."

They carried both Sam and Rob out on stretchers. Dean walked out on his own, his ribs now tightly taped by the medic. It was slow going, but no one wanted to stop and rest not knowing whether the creature was dead or not.

Dean walked by Sam's side and the medic walked on the other side of the stretcher making sure Sam's airway didn't close up. With the tube down his throat Sam was unable to talk so he reached up and touched Dean's hand.

"Yeah." Dean looked down at Sam who pointed to Dean's chest.

"Hurts a little." Dean grinned. "How 'bout yourself?"

Sam gave a slight nod and a thumbs up. Dean patted him on his shoulder and smiled. They both were injured and in pain, but at least they were alive.

**Epilogue**

Sam was forced to spend a week and a half in the hospital. His rib had punctured his lung and he needed surgery to repair it. The bullet in his back had lodged in his shoulder blade and was removed with no complications. Dean's injuries were less serious and he was held for two days then released. His ribs were badly bruised and he had a slight concussion and was told to take it easy for the next month. He stayed by his brother's side until he too was released. Rob was treated and then taken into custody. He was held on robbery, kidnapping, and attempted murder.

With all the witnesses to the creature's attack, Michael Tate was released from the sanitarium; he was no longer a suspect in the death of the other campers.

After leaving the hospital, Dean and Sam drove back to the cabin where the trip had begun from hoping to find the old man who had warned them about the spirit. They were in luck, the man sat at the edge of the river fishing. Dean pulled the car up next to him and got out, Sam, still sore from the surgery, stayed in the car but rolled down his window.

"Hi," Dean said as he approached the man.

"I see you made it out of the canyon." The man said but did not look up.

"Two died." Dean stated.

"The spirit takes who it wants."

"A good man died….for what?" Dean said referring to Dave.

"He was taken as a sacrifice." The man said simply.

"Why? He didn't harm the canyon."

"He brought evil men to the river. He died as a warning to others."

Sam leaned out the window.

"This thing…we think we might have killed it."

The man shook his head and looked out over the river.

"You can't kill a spirit."

Dean also looked out over the river wondering if the thing might be out there somewhere looking back at them. He looked over at Sam who shook his head and rolled up the window. Dean glanced back at the river then got in the car and pulled away.

"You think it really is a spirit that can't be killed?" Sam asked as he glanced at the river through the side window.

"I don't know… We can only hope its dead, and that it was the only one out there." Dean pressed down on the accelerator and sped off.

**The canyon**

The creature sat on a cliff once more guarding the river, a silver tipped arrow lying next to it. Its only thought revenge on the ones who had caused it pain.

The End


End file.
